Sponsored by
CRH to Buy Building-Materials Rival Arcosa; China Imposes Trade Curbs on U.S. Companies By Mark R. Long | WSJ Logistics Report
CRH said it will acquire rival Arcosa in a deal valued at about $8.5 billion, including debt, as the building-materials supplier beefs up its aggregates portfolio
and aims to meet growing demand from the build-out of energy and utility infrastructure.
Arcosa's construction-products arm includes 109 quarries and yards, nine asphalt plants and 19 terminals, The Wall Street Journal's Connor Hart reports. Dallas-based Arcosa also produces telecom and energy-transmission structures, a sector drawing greater investment amid growing demand from power-hungry AI data centers. The deal gives Ireland-based CRH exposure to GE Vernova, a major infrastructure company and one of Arcosa's biggest clients , Paulo Confino of Investor's Business Daily reports.
The purchase is the latest in a string of deals in the fragmented building-materials industry. In April, Brad Jacobs' QXO agreed to acquire insulation-products company
TopBuild for $17 billion, a couple of months after agreeing to buy materials distributor
Kodiak Building Partners and about a year after clinching a deal
for Beacon Roofing Supply. Last year, Home Depot won a bidding war
for GMS, and Switzerland's Holcim agreed to acquire German walling company Xella.
CONTENT FROM: PENSKE Gain a Closer Look. Gain Ground with Penske Logistics.
Moving freight has a lot of moving pieces. That's why Penske Logistics transportation management solutions focus on getting your cargo from point A to point B on time. We match your freight with available capacity and monitor it at all stages of the journey so you can keep momentum on your side.
Learn More
Number of the Day Global Trade
China imposed trade restrictions on dozens of U.S. entities, including rare-earth producers
MP Materials and USA Rare Earth, as tensions between the two countries persist, the Journal's Katrina Northrop writes.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon added a number of Chinese companies to a blacklist of entities
it said were linked to China's military. On Monday, China's Commerce Ministry responded by adding 10 U.S. defense firms to its control list, barring exports to those companies of any Chinese-made products with potential military applications.
The controls target drones, robotics and aerospace, as well as the rare-earth producers. The Chinese Finance Ministry also excluded 46 U.S. companies, including Lockheed Martin, RTX and Boeing's defense division, from China's government procurement.
European leaders are seeking new powers to hit back at China over a flood of exports hammering their industries , as they weigh whether they are ready for a trade war with Beijing. (WSJ)
Ingredients
Food makers are cramming protein into all manner of products, leading to a shortage of whey-derived protein , the WSJ's Amira McKee writes.
The price for whey protein concentrate 80, a highly popular additive that is 80% protein, has surged to a historic high of more than $13 a pound in the U.S., according to Vesper. That is nearly three times its value a year earlier.
Turning liquid whey into premium protein concentrates and isolates takes multimillion-dollar ultrafiltration systems and drying towers, creating a bottleneck in supply. Manufacturers of the ingredients say they are sold out, committed to longtime clients or tied up in contracts through next year.
In Other News Canadian inflation rose to a 3.2% annual rate
in May, its highest level since late 2023, driven by rising gasoline prices. (WSJ) Consumer sentiment in the eurozone edged up this month , continuing a tentative recovery from a three-year low in April. (WSJ) Trump summoned Pentagon officials and defense contractors to the White House to ramp up munitions production
amid depleted U.S. missile supplies. (WSJ) A blast that authorities attributed to a technical accident and not a hostile act killed 13 and injured dozens at Qatar's key Ras Laffan natural-gas facility . (WSJ) United Parcel Service said it will invest $48 million
to build 27 temperature-controlled freight cross-dock facilities worldwide. (Dow Jones Newswires) Chevron struck a 20-year agreement to sell electricity to Microsoft, which plans to build what could become one of the country's largest AI data centers
in West Texas. (WSJ) EV maker Lucid Group will lay off about 18%
of its U.S. workforce, including its chief operating officer. (WSJ) Tesla logged a more than twofold jump
in European monthly sales in May as Elon Musk's electric-vehicle maker continues to rebuild strength in a region where Chinese rivals are gaining ground. (WSJ) Japan's JERA will build a gas-fired power plant
co-located with a data center in the U.S. for about $3 billion. (Nikkei Asia) Robots will eventually replace
JD.com's 700,000 delivery workers, company founder Richard Liu said. (Financial Times) Chinese automakers are exploring creating manufacturing joint ventures
in Canada, Industry Minister Melanie Joly said. (Bloomberg) France's FM Logistic said it agreed to acquire a majority stake
in Germany's Schäflein Group. (The Loadstar) A.P. Moller-Maersk launched a North American lithium-ion battery ground-transportation
service. (DC Velocity) About Us
Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at [mark.long@wsj.com]. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 23, 2026 07:02 ET (11:02 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments